Dorothy Auchterlonie

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Dorothy Auchterlonie
Born May 28, 1915(1915-05-28)
Flag of the United Kingdom Sunderland, County Durham, England, UK
Died February 21, 1991 (aged 75)
Flag of Australia Canberra, ACT, Australia
Other names Dorothy Green
Occupation Journalist, academic, poet
Spouse Henry Mackenzie Green

Dorothy Auchterlonie AO (28 May 1915 – 21 February 1991) was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet.

Contents

[edit] Life

Auchterlonie was born in Sunderland, County Durham in England. In 1927 when she was 12 years old, her family moved to Australia.[1]

Educated in both England and Australia, Auchterlonie went on to study at the University of Sydney, where she completed a first-class honours and then an M.A. in English. During her time there Auchterlonie became a member of an elite group that included the brilliant and flamboyant[2] poet James McAuley, Joan Fraser (who wrote under the pseudonym Amy Witting), Harold Stewart, Oliver Somerville, Alan Crawford and Ronald Dunlop. James McAuley and Harold Stewart were later to become notorious for perpetrating the Ern Malley hoax. The group was described by Peter Coleman in his book on James McAuley, as the 'sourly brilliant literary circle'[3] [4], an oblique reference to Thomas de Quincey.[5]

In 1944, Auchterlonie married literary historian and critic, H. M. Green, who was then the Librarian at the University of Sydney.[1]

Following her training, Auchterlonie taught at various schools, and in 1961 became the first female lecturer at Monash University, lecturing in literature. Her teaching career included positions at both the Australian National University and the Australian Defence Force Academy.

On her death in 1991 a collection of Auchterlonie's writings and papers was purchased by the National Library of Australia.[6] Additional papers and documents are held in the Australian Defence Force Academy Library, Canberra.

[edit] Recognition

Auchterlonie was awarded an Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1984 and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1998 for her services to literature, teaching and writing.[7]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Kaleidoscope (1940)
  • Fourteen Minutes (1950; with H. M. Green)
  • Something to Someone: Poems (Brindabella Press, Canberra, 1983)
  • The music of love: critical essays on literature and life (Penguin Books, 1984)
  • Ulysses bound: a study of Henry Handel Richardson and her fiction (Allen & Unwin, 1986)
  • Descent of spirit: writing of E.L. Grant Watson (1990)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Green, Dorothy (birth name: Auchterlonie, Dorothy ). AustLit Agent. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
  2. ^ McAuley, James. Austlit Agent. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
  3. ^ Coleman, Peter (1980). The heart of James McAuley : life and work of the Australian poet. Sydney: Wildcat Press, 132 p. ISBN 0908463057. 
  4. ^ An introduction to the life and work of Amy Witting: Australian realist fiction writer and poet. Flinder's University. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
  5. ^ Biographical Essays, by Thomas de Quincey. Fullbooks.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
  6. ^ "MS 5678 Papers of Dorothy Green (1915-1991)". 
  7. ^ "Australian Government: Queen's Birthday Honours", December 12, 2006. 

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME Auchterlonie, Dorothy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Green, Dorothy
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australianwriter and academic
DATE OF BIRTH 28 May 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Sunderland, County Durham, England
DATE OF DEATH 21 February 1991
PLACE OF DEATH Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Languages